I Know You're All Wondering...

What is happinging in this photo.

A little brother/sister bonding time...

Can you tell this is a house filled with girls?

The one boy is in desperate need of his big brother-n-law to come and get rough and tough with him.

Daddy and Grandpa can only do so much!

January can't come soon enough...



Personality...

I sat down this morning to do some editing of photos from the past couple of days.

I was planning on doing a whole post on the excitement that took place when we received a box from Galen and Cadi...

but I couldn't resist posting this picture!

This is a perfect example of crazy attitudes in this house.

Take special notice of the little one on the left...

Do you notice anything... strange about her face?

Click on the picture to get a close up...

She thinks this is hilarious!!

It is definitely a true representation of her personality...

Crazy Face!!

My Wish...

... that all the little ones

(who have runny noses and nasty coughs)

 would wake up in the morning feeling GREAT!

Ups and Downs...

We are in the process of building on a new front deck.  There was a teeny tiny little cement step (two steps really) that you couldn't even stand on while opening the door...

Hmmmmm.

Weird.

Anyway, we finally got tired of knocking people off the step and started building a deck.  Eventually the deck will wrap around the house, but for now it will just be a large section of the front.

Why am I telling you this?

Well, because this means that there are planers and saws and drills and such taking up space all over the front of the house.

Really ugly?

Yes.

Necessary?

For now, yes.

This has brought a few new ideas to the kids, however.

Kids imaginations are always at work.

They managed to convince Grandpa to let them "use" a sawhorse.

They "borrowed" a long board.

Now, they are trying to figure out how to make this a permanent feature...

And...

When Daddy has time to make this new project a little safer...

Permanent it will be!

By the way...

I'm sorry for all of the whining and complaining lately.

A lot of emotions and feelings have been brought up with this move.

And...

I am a "stewer"...

It takes me a little time to work through some of this stuff...

I am getting there, though.

I think I have more good days than bad...

I think...

For those of you who are praying for me right now...

Thank you and I feel it!

Really.

You are appreciated.

Someone sent me a facebook message yesterday that just made me feel loved and thought of...

and, well...

not crazy!

lol

Everyone needs to know that they matter, I guess.

This process has really made me do a lot of thinking about how many times I may feel like someone is hurting, but I move on and don't take the time to just love on them.

I am not someone who gets down often...

Thank God!

I will say, that the next time I feel like someone is feeling extra lonely and just needs a listening friend...

I will be so much more understanding!

Now, let's get over my ups and downs and prepare for the onslaught of seesaw photos...

I have a ton of them people...

A ton!

All Things...

I Would love to say this is a Wordless Wednesday photo...

I just don't seem to have anything to say.

All I seem to feel these days is anger...

At what?

Who knows.

Everything.

Anything.

All things...

So, since I don't want to drag anyone down with me...

I will just leave you with a photo

of a couple of amazing little people

on a beautiful Fall afternoon.

Curls...

 Anyone who knows our Ari...

knows that she has some of the most naturally curly hair around!

This girl has no hope of growing out of it...

as if we would want her to.

I think it is absolutely beautiful.

My hair is also curly...

but where she got amazingly beautiful curls that frame her beautiful face, I got weird tight curl here... loose curl here... wave here... poke straight out here...

So I straighten my hair frequently.

She got the best of the curls!

We have been talking about straightening her hair for the past year or so.

You know... someday we should...

While dad and I were out the other day I received a picture text.

It showed that the girls had been busy...

straightening Ari's hair.

This is a photo of our Ari...

It doesn't even show how tight her little curls are, but you get the idea.

The following photos are of some strange girl with straight hair...

that none of us recognized.

We took photos to remember this strange girl...

and popped her in the shower to get her curls back!

Curls or not...

You can see her spunk!

Beautiful baby girl!

I Know. I Will.....

I don't feel like I've had much to say lately.

It's all been fluff...

filler...

meaningless.

I'm struggling to find my place.

My voice.

I have so many thoughts running through my head.

I can't seem to make them reach my mouth.

I know what I'm supposed to say.

I know what is expected of me.

I know.

I know.

I know...

SCREAM!!!!!!

I know...

I just can't seem to find the feelings that go along with that knowledge.

I'm in a dead zone.

The one thing that I know is that I love my family.

They are what gets me through another day.

I miss my older peeps.

I miss them so much.

But...

That is the way life goes.

My little ones have really drawn closer.

They spend a lot of time. reading and doing puzzles.

Watching them makes me smile.

Smiles are good!

Don't worry.

Really.

Stop it!

I will get through this...

whatever "this" is...

Lonely sounds wrong and empty and stupid.

I WILL get through this.

I will.

I will.

I WILL........

From Ari...

Ari decided she needed to send something special to Cadi and Galen.

When I suggested a picture, letter, cookies...

she said, "No."

So, this is what she opted to send...

For Cadi...

For Galen...

For fun...

Love you, Cadi and Galen!!

Making Memories...

Summer days are coming to an end.

We are waking up most mornings with a chill.

The fog lays into the valleys and makes for an eerilly beautiful start to your day.

The kids love that it is cool enough to get outside and really enjoy their surroundings.

Every morning, once the chill and fog burn off, they ask if we can head outside to play.

With camera in hand, we usually do just that.

Tomorrow the weather is taking a decidedly cool turn.

I am actually looking forward to it.

I expect to have a fire burning at least one of those days.

I guess it is time to find the boxes that are still holding the kids warmer clothes.

There are so many jobs around here that still need to be completed.

You know how it is.

This job can't be completed until this and that get finished.

It can seem like a never ending job.

It will get completed.

We will have a long winter ahead to get a lot of inside work done... I hope.

... not the winter part, but the work done part.

For now, I will just enjoy making memories with my sweeties.

Homecoming...

Today is HOMECOMING in our small town.

I have never seen a town get more ramped up, excited and go all out!

Today is a parade....

for homecoming.

The whole town has decorated and I have been told to come early because everyone attends the parade and the game!

Miranda has been working on one of the floats for the parade and she said she was amazed that you can call up any store around here and ask for Cabool Bulldog blue paint...

and they know exactly what you are talking about...

and they keep a steady supply of this color on hand.

So cool!

So, tonight I will be sitting on some very uncomfortable bleachers (if I can find a spot) and scream and yell to support my team.  I wouldn't be surprised if I have a bit of a sore throat later... afterall, I am that kind of gal.

All 3 schools get out early today so they can prepare for the parade and the game.

The kids are loving that.

Sydnee gets to ride on the fire truck in the parade...

Which has her so excited she can hardly contain her middle school self.

Miranda will be with the float she and her classmates have been working on.

She is equally excited, just better at hiding it.

I will be there with the camera to "capture the moment", of course.

The following photos have nothing to do with homecoming or the parade.

They are just of a beautiful little girl with a thousand emotions running across her face...

What a blessing!

I had a bad day yesterday...

So, I decided to keep as busy as possible.

I asked my two buddies if they wanted to make cookies and they jumped up and said, "Yes!"

We made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

They had a blast!

They added ingredients and mixed it all up.

The best part of all is getting that handful of chocolate chips at the end...

You know, because you were a good little helper!

Capture The Moment...

Lately we have had some major downpours!

The ground is saturated...

full...

overflowing...

In otherwords, it can't hold anymore!

Now, I don't want to sound like I'm complaining.

I know I have a tendancy to do that when that yucky white stuff would fall...

but now...

Now...

it is the wet stuff and I love it!

One way or another we have to get to the mail box and see what the outside world has to say to us.

I'm sure they have nothing good to say.

I'm sure of it!

However, I go out to that mail box anyway...

Who makes me do this????

I don't kow, but I am sure it is NOT my fault...

Cadi, STOP laughing!

Anyway, back to the point.

Rain has been falling.

The ground can't soak up any more.

The kids had a great idea.

Let's walk to the mail box and jump in the puddles on the way.

Now, the mom in me said, "What?  Why would we do that?  We might get dirty!"

Who am I kidding?

I said, "That sounds like a great idea!"

And away we went...

For some reason, Ari felt the need to hold her pant legs up the entire trip there and back.

This caused a few problems...

tears...

pout sessions...

meltdowns...

But we persevered.

Brysen did what Brysen does...

He ran and ran...

Run, Forest, run...

Sorry, random movie line going through my head.

He made it to the mail box and then started heading back towards me.

He seemed to be paying more attention to his little sister's meltdown than I was and noticed that she was now at a standstill... or a squat (sqwat, scwat, sacwaat... naw, none of them look right.)... let's just call it a semi sit down, shall we? 

Superstar!!

He walked right past his mother, who was trying to "cature the moment" people.

He treated me like I wasn't doing my job.

He acted like I was letting the world down.

He may have mentioned that I was falling down on the job...

and he went to see if his little sister was okay.

He wanted to comfort her.

He wanted to shield her from the worries of this life.

He wanted to make everything right with the world.

I'm sure this was all an attempt to out-do me at my mothering job...

except, remember...

I was busy "capturing the moment".

Do you see the disappointment in the way he is carrying his shoulders?

Can you hear his heavy sighs?

Do you feel the chastisement?

I feel so bad...

but for posterities sake, I needed these shots!

Stop harrassing me!!

Then even the dog got into the act and comforted her first!

Who does that dog think he is?

He beat us both to the punch!!

Finally, we got her back on her feet.

Finally, she approached a puddle...

checked things out real well...

thought about it long and hard...

Checked to see if Mama was watching...

Yes, sweetie...

I am "capturing the moment"

smile

...and in she went!

Good times...

Good times.......

And don't you worry!

I will be around to "capture the moment"...

should anything equally entertaining arise!


** and, yes, Galen... if you look closely...you can see my "under construction house" in one of the photos**

Labor Day Weekend...

Labor day weekend was a blessing for us.

We were able to spend the weekend with our second oldest daughte, Cheyenne.

She loves the farm.

She kept telling me how peaceful it is out here.

After we had driven back into the big city and dropped her off, we came home and the hubs started working on his chainsaw.  You see, it is time to start cutting firewood for the winter.

The weather was perfect.

The light was beautiful...

just starting to set and everything seemed to have a beautiful glow.

We have a large hill made up of gravel that is used in places like... holes that come up in the driveway.

The kids love to play on this hill.

Everyone loves getting pulled around in the wagon.

When I was watching them take turns...

I wanted to take a turn...

but, I decided hanging on to the camera was a better way to go.

Sometimes, you've just got to stop and enjoy the view.

Ari hasn't been feeling her best lately.

The trip home was filled with 3 "getting sick" sessions...

YUCK.

Hopefully, she will feel better soon...

There is always more hill climbing and wagon riding to enjoy!